Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to say that our minds are like that of a vulture.
A vulture flies very high in the sky, but where are his eyes? They are on the dead body lying on the ground; the moment he sees the dead body he swoops down to eat it!
We are also like that.
A person may fly to a very high position of political, economical, or financial power, and others may even be prostrating to him. But where is his mind? This is, as we say, corruption in high places.”
So when our mind is like that of a vulture fixed on low, base things, we need culture in order to fly high, not only materially, but morally and spiritual as well. Then the mind rises to true spiritual thoughts.
Source – Hindu Culture – An Introduction by Swami Tejomayananda (page 12)